Barbecue skewers are used to support and manipulate food outdoors and in kitchens. They generally consist of a pointed shank and an adjoining handle. While skewers usually have eyelets for suspending them from hooks, when they are not in use, their pointed ends are often unprotected and they are often placed on contaminated surfaces. While they fulfill their intended use, they suffer from a number of shortcomings such as causing injuries from their unprotected pointed ends, difficulties in extracting food from the skewer, and contamination of the skewer from dirt and bacteria. With these shortcomings in mind, it is clear that a need exists for improvements that will facilitate food extraction and prevent injuries and food contamination with barbecue skewers.